A variety of tasks may be performed by a robot system that involve motion of an arm or a portion thereof. For example, a robot arm may be moved to contact or otherwise approach a target. As one example, a lever may be contacted by a robot arm. For instance, in a rail yard on one or more rail vehicle systems within the yard, a robot may be used to contact one or more brake levers. For example, between missions performed by a rail vehicle, various systems, such as braking systems, of the units of a rail vehicle may be inspected and/or tested. As one example, a brake bleeding task may be performed on one or more units of a rail vehicle system. In a rail yard, there may be a large number of rail cars in a relatively confined area, resulting in a large number of inspection and/or maintenance tasks. Conventional manipulation techniques may not provide a desired speed or accuracy in manipulation of a robot arm toward a target